Duffy’s and Wallin’s expense claims are bad? ……….. how about Dalton McGuinty’s ????

What a couple of weeks of “news noise” we’ve all been trying to tune out on our “Mainstream Muckraking Media’s cacophonic non-stop feed” of crap from the Canadian Senate and the geriatric chamber of bile!

Duffy and Wallin being trotted out daily rumping up and down the stairs of the senate instead of using the elevator in order to appear to look “fit” and “healthy” to declare how they are VICTIMS in their expenses scandals!

Nobody dares to look south and west to Dalton McGuinty’s pile of Rosedale rubble that has cost tax payers much much more than both of the above combined!!!!

After all, now that Dalton is south of the border in the elitist’s favourite haunt, Harvard University, teaching future Goldman Sachs players how to “game the system”, one wouldn’t want to expose what he did to Ontario taxpayers with his domicile expenses!

But then Ontarians are chumps and should be kept in the dark because really, they were stupid enough to keep voting this klepto into power for 3 terms and of course the truth would only confuse them!

TORONTO — Even though it amounted to only really changing a phrase, Government Services Minister John Milloy told us with a suitably grave face Tuesday that they were taking “strong action” to close a “serious loophole” in the rules around the ability of MPPs to expense housing allowances.

Their new Members Accomodation Allowances Act — crafted after “extensive” consultations with all three parties — will only allow MPPs to claim a Toronto housing allowance each year if their riding is located more than 50 kilometres away from Queen’s Park.

The old rules permitted MPPs to expense their Toronto digs if their principle residence, as well, was more than 50 kilometres away from the Pink Palace on University Ave.
Even though Milloy insisted, several times, that this new legislation had nothing to do with any attempts by his party to ride on the coattails of the federal PC Senate expense scandal, he just had to mention that “incident” of several months ago with PC MPP Peter Shurman.

Shurman was bumped by PC Leader Tim Hudak from his finance critic job when details emerged the first week of September that he had claimed a housing allowance for two years for renting an apartment in Toronto because his full-time residence is now in Niagara-in-the-Lake.

Although Shurman had not violated any rules, Hudak warned him to pay back the money or lose his finance portfolio. Shurman refused to do so, claiming he’d run the expenses by his party leader.

Milloy kept insisting he wasn’t playing politics but managed to mention Shurman’s name, at least six times.
He also said he was “unaware” of any Liberals doing the same thing.

When my colleague Antonella Artuso asked about the fancy Rosedale pile former premier Dalton McGuinty lived in and was reported in 2004 to use his taxpayer-funded housing allowance to help pay for — suggesting there were others who “massaged” the rules — Milloy denied knowledge of this and said he believed that situation ended.

Attempting to get back to his agenda — that is, PCs bad, Liberals squeaky clean — Milloy then reiterated that this was about “closing a loophole” and ensuring the spirit of the law is not violated anymore.

Bad, bad Mr. Shurman.

And so the mention of McGuinty disappeared like a ghost, much as he has from Queen’s Park, leaving this province deeply in debt.

I, however, decided to play sleuth. By the end of Wednesday, I not only found that lovely three-storey pile McGuinty called home for nearly nine years but apparently that “stately renovated detached” home on a “family-friendly dead end street” with its “custom cook’s kitchen,” a walkout to a deck and yard, five bedrooms and finished basement — according to a recent real estate listing — just sold on Sept. 17.

The purchase price was $1.7 million.

The home was bought by the Ontario Liberal party for $995,000 in early 2004 — meaning they made more than $700,000 on the deal (money which I suspect will be put to good use with an election looming). This year’s tax assessment on it is more than $1.4 million.

I did not get any of that information from the newly transparent, open and accountable Liberal government at Queen’s Park, mind you.